hate

The Anti-Defamation League has labeled Pepe the Frog as a hate symbol because white supremacists on the internet have made bigoted versions of Pepe... not as rare as they ought to be. From the ADL website:

In recent years, with the growth of the "alt right" segment of the white supremacist movement, a segment that draws some of its support from some of the above-mentioned Internet sites, the number of "alt right" Pepe memes has grown, a tendency exacerbated by the controversial and contentious 2016 presidential election. Though Pepe memes have many defenders, not least the character's creator, Matt Furie, who has called the alt right appropriation of the meme merely a "phase," the use of racist and bigoted versions of Pepe memes seems to be increasing, not decreasing.

This woman went to work as a server and had President George W. Bush and his wife as customers. Apparently, they were pretty nice and left a "hella" tip. When she shared the picture they took together she referenced the conspiracy theory that "Bush did 9/11" as a joke.

At first it was funny, but she got more attention than she planned on getting.

The Tweet also got a lot of hate. Eventually it became necessary to let people know that she wasn't serious.

A man in Minnesota had a vanity plate reading "FMUSLMS" that went virtually unnoticed for about eight months. People applying for vanity plates in Minnesota are required to submit and explanation of the meaning behind the plate when they apply. Clearly, whoever issued this plate must have skimmed through his application very quickly.

This hateful plate was brought to the attention of the state by the Facebook group UniteCloud. The group's main focus is to bring peace and understanding to the St. Cloud area.

According to the video and description, the Minnesota Department of Public Safety made a statement admitting that the license plate was not appropriate:

This personalized license plate should never have been issued; it is offensive and distasteful. We are in the process of revoking and taking possession of the plates today. The Department of Public Safety apologizes for this error. The Driver and Vehicle Services Division is reviewing its process for approving personalized license plates today and will immediately provide additional review and oversight of applications.

The Australian charity organization Minus 18 planned on throwing a small formal for teens in Victoria who are "same sex attracted and gender diverse". The idea behind this was to give students who don't necessarily fit the "norm" a chance to have a prom night where they feel safe to be themselves. The event description says it best:

Imagine being told by your school that the clothes you feel comfortable wearing to a formal aren’t considered ‘normal’ or don’t conform to a dress code. Imagine not being allowed to take a partner of the same sex, or being too afraid to attend altogether.

It’s a sucky reality for gender diverse and same sex attracted students from all over Australia, who are bullied or made to feel unsupported because of their identity. That’s what the Same Sex Gender Diverse Formal is all about; you, me and heaps of other students having the night of our lives.

Sounds like a great idea but a local conservative group did not think so. It would seem that this group, which is literally called "STOP Safe Schools" and has the most dour logo possible, has no idea what the meaning of irony is.

This lovely group of people who seem intent on shielding their children from all that is good in the world, like rainbows, decided it was their duty to stop such a blatantly open and accepting prom night. So, they asked everyone to buy up all the tickets and not show up, then it would have to be canceled, right?

The people involved in STOP Safe Schools apparently did buy tickets, and lots of them. Micah Scott, chief executive at Minus 18 told The Age that they suspect the STOP Safe Schools group bought all of the cheaper, early bird tickets. He said, "The purpose of those was to provide young people with an opportunity to get in with a cheap option ... but unfortunately it looks like it has all been snapped up by this conservative group."

Fortunately, this inspired people to donate to the formal on a crowdfunding site. So far they've reached $45,175 of their $15,000 goal. So instead of being cancelled, the formal will go on as planned. And thanks to the people who tried to have it canceled and their non-refundable donation of tickets, it will go on for free.

"It's easy to dehumanize hate speech online because we've gotten so used to seeing it," says writer/director Charlotte Moore. "We tell ourselves that it's the product of trolls, of random, anonymous strangers. Except they're not. They're real people. Many of them will be parents. And some of their children will be gay."

Her new PSA brings to life the worst of the tweets with Twitter hashtag #tomyunbornchild, which was trending worldwide in March. The hashtag -- unintentionally -- encouraged many users to spout hate toward LGBT children.